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Issue: Vol. 1176 No. 1: 21 Apr. 2006
Type: Articles
Published: 2006-04-21
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1176.1.4
Page range: 41–52
Abstract views: 48
PDF downloaded: 3

Urolophus kapalensis sp. nov., a new stingaree (Myliobatiformes: Urolophidae) off eastern Australia

CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, GPO Box 1538, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia
CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, GPO Box 1538, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia
Hemichordata Australia new species southwestern Pacific Ocean stingaree Tasman Sea Urolophidae Urolophus

Abstract

A new stingaree, Urolophus kapalensis sp. nov., is described from material collected off eastern Australia. It differs from the partially sympatric U. paucimaculatus, the only other known Urolophus with a bell-shaped internasal flap, in having a dorsal fin (absent in U. paucimaculatus), in coloration (e.g. with a V-shaped band across the interorbit, which is absent in U. paucimaculatus), and in a number of morphometric and meristic characters including: a narrower disc (disc width 4.6–5.0 times distance between first gill slits vs 5.1 in U. paucimaculatus), a longer stinging spine (11.8– 14.9 vs 9.3–11.5% TL), a shorter spiracle (0.8–1.0 vs 1.1–1.2 times orbit length), and more prespine vertebrae (86–95 vs 79–88). The two species are also distinguished by the cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) gene with a divergence of 9%. The new Urolophus is medium-sized, and occurs from Cape Moreton (Qld) south to Disaster Bay (N.S.W.) in depths of 9–79 m.

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